Healthy Breasts For Every Woman

Most of our breast tissue should be fat but more and more women seem to have lumpy breasts.  There are two conditions which may be contributing to this.  They are Lobular Carcinoma In Situ (LCIS) and Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS).  With LCIS there are changes in the cells lining the lobules or lobes of the breast, where milk is produced.  There are no symptoms or signs.  It is more common in women who have not reached menopause and does give them an increased risk of breast cancer in the future but this does not happen for most women.  It does not show up on a mammogram and is only discovered when a biopsy is taken or a breast lump removed.

DCIS means that there are cancer cells lining the ducts which carry milk to the nipple but they are completely contained and have not spread anywhere else in the breast or elsewhere in the body.  Some women with DCIS can go on to have Invasive Ductal Carcinoma where the cells spread and can become cancerous. Not every woman will go on to develop breast cancer but doctors cannot predict who will.  DCIS is discovered via mammogram and then the usual follow-on investigation is to undertake a biopsy using a needle to extract a small piece of breast tissue.  As this is an invasive procedure, the DCIS has been “entered” and the cells may be able to escape into the rest of the breast.  This is why I recommend the use of Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging as a possible way for monitoring DCIS - see my last blog on Breast Screening False Alarms.

Doctors do not know the causes of LCIS or DCIS.

In my work to empower women to take control of their breast health,  I advise women to do twice-daily breast massage as it is a great way of feeling “in touch” with your boobs, is great for skin tone and encourages detoxifying lymphatic drainage.  However, I am beginning to wonder whether it would help women who have “lumpy” breasts.  I talk to so many women who tell me that they find it very difficult to check their breasts because they are too “lumpy”.  I recommend breast massage using a special cream containing spirulina algae and the ladies who have used it, time and time again, come back and tell me that their breasts are less lumpy.  They also report that their breasts are firmer and that any discomfort has improved or disappeared.

If you would like to know more about breast massage and the breast cream with spirulina algae, please contact me by phone or email.

Nikki Mattei

More than 7,000 women a year screened for breast cancer are wrongly told they have the disease, it was claimed yesterday.

The misdiagnoses lead to unnecessary treatment, including mastectomies.

After an independent review of the NHS programme for women aged 50 to 69, scientists concluded that the benefits of screening have been exaggerated and women are not warned of the potential harms from having regular checks.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1244333/Thousands-women-undergo-unnecessary-gruelling-breast-cancer-treatment.html#ixzz0dLtYv7eY

It is believed that women are not given the full facts about the risks of breast screening by mammogram, such as over-diagnosis leading to unnecessary biopsies and even mastectomy when ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is found.  DCIS is found in the cells lining the milk ducts and often does not spread.  Many women are given a mastectomy even though it is not known for sure whether the carcinoma is malignant and whether it will spread.  In fact, many women die with DCIS rather than of it.  I would also add the potential risks from the radation (a mammogram gives a much greater exposure than a normal X-ray) and a woman is exposed to this high level of radiation over the period of breast screening, from age 50-70 in this country.  You can read more about the whole issue of the safety of mammograms at the CANCERActive website http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=1420

As part of my campaign, Healthy Breasts For Every Woman, I still advocate that women should be checking their own breasts as most breast cancer cases are discovered by the woman or her partner.  This is particularly important for women under 50 who are not being called for mammograms and the younger you are the more aggressive any cancer is likely to be.

However, it would seem that more and more women are being diagnosed with DCIS and are having a mastectomy as a matter of course.  They are not being given the option of a lumpectomy or of monitoring the carcinoma to see if it spreads and becomes active.  In my work I recommend that women consider Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging as an alternative breast screening method.  DITI is pain-free, radiation-free and non-invasive.  It can identify abnormal cells by the level of heat showing in the breast tissue.  It could be a useful way for monitoring DCIS to see whether the cells change and/or spread within the breast.  The problem if a woman has a biopsy for DCIS is that the cells are then “open” and if there is malignancy, this is then “let out”.

Unfortunately, DITI is not available on the NHS in this country but the cost is certainly not prohibitive.  Take a look at this website for more details and a list of clinics offering the treatment (click on Locations) http://www.meditherm.com/.

As always, nothing is clear cut but at least if women are give the full facts, then they can make their own decision rather than being convinced that they need radical surgery when they may not have needed to.

Nikki Mattei